“I know…” Chen Mu said, “but they did save my sister.”
Pei Xiangjin didn't know what to say, so she only said, "Alright, you can go home and rest now..."
He realized immediately after speaking that what he had said was quite inappropriate.
"I have no home now," Chen Mu said with a helpless smile. "My sister hasn't been buried yet, so I won't be taking a break for the time being."
After saying that, she nodded slightly and pushed open the door to the interrogation room.
The long shadows of the corridor enveloped her—the sunlight could no longer reach her.
Not long after, on a gloomy, rainy day, Yi Heye opened his eyes from a daze and vaguely realized that SHEEP was not in the ward, nor was Jian Yunxian.
Beside the bed was a man who was both familiar and unfamiliar to him—Yu Yili from the Security Department.
He had just woken up, and his mind was still a bit foggy from the medication. After thinking for a while, he slowly frowned and asked earnestly in a hoarse voice, "Uh...am I dead?"
So it's the forensic doctor's turn to examine me?
Yu Yili was reading a professional book on the projected screen when he heard the sound and immediately turned around.
Before he could answer Yi Heye's question, he gasped and quickly straightened the blanket that Yi Heye had messed up.
Then he looked up and said, "Mr. Jian Yunxian has some urgent business recently and asked me to take care of you for a while."
Yi Heye blinked, momentarily stunned.
Urgent? Jian Yunxian's urgent matter? He looked at the empty room and remembered that even SHEEP was gone.
It seems there are indeed some tricky issues.
He frowned, then looked at Yu Yili, whom he didn't know very well, and wondered why he had asked him for help.
But soon, Yi Heye realized that he had very few friends. Song Zhouzhou could barely be considered one, but this guy was so withdrawn that he would die suddenly if he went out, so he probably couldn't expect him to come to the hospital to take care of him.
Perhaps it was because he had spent a lot of time with Jian Yunxian that some of his interpersonal troubles had lessened. Now, sitting on the hospital bed and thinking back carefully, Yi Heye realized that he really didn't have many people he could entrust his life to.
At this moment, he sat on the hospital bed, feeling somewhat helpless. Looking at the ward without Xiao Yang or Jian Yunxian, the long-lost sense of fear welled up in his heart again.
Although Yu Yili was also in the ward, it was not enough to eliminate his aversion to hospitals. At this moment, he realized that he had not overcome his fear of hospitals at all. It was just that Jian Yunxian's presence helped him cover up his fear.
He felt pain in his abdomen again, and could only gently cover his stomach with one hand as he said to Yu Yili, "I want to be discharged now..."
Yu Yili straightened his bangs before belatedly realizing, "Given your condition, it would be best to stay in the hospital for observation for about a week."
The "about a week" deadline made Yi Heye even more uncomfortable. His face began to turn pale. He felt that if he stayed any longer, all the rest and recuperation he had done in the past few days would be wasted, and he might even suffer another blow on top of what he had already done.
"It's alright." Yi Heye shook his head. "I know my own condition. Could you please help me with the discharge procedures?"
Yu Yili stared at him intently for a long time before asking, "The current hospital environment must be making you very uncomfortable, right?"
Yi Heye nodded and said honestly, "I'm terrified of hospitals. If this continues, I'll never get better."
Yu Yili nodded, straightening his collar as she said, "Okay, I understand. I'll go get the paperwork done for you now."
This person was reasonable, easy to talk to, and had a pretty good temper. Yi Heye felt the pressure instantly lessen and nodded to thank him sincerely.
In fact, Yi Heye had almost recovered. The hospital staff gave him a few instructions and completed the formalities. Yu Yili helped him pack his luggage and even drove him home.
As he was about to enter his home, Yu Yili instructed him, "I wrote down some precautions for home care. Remember to follow them when you get back. Remember that you are still a patient, so don't push yourself too hard."
Yi Heye nodded absentmindedly.
"Contact me anytime if you encounter any problems. Although I am a forensic doctor, I also have a proper medical license."
Before leaving, Yu Yili probably wanted to end with a cool line, even his expression became cool and affected, but when he peeked out, his gaze was fixed on the living room wall where Yi Heye's door was half open.
"The tablecloth is crooked; the left side is at least 2 centimeters longer than the right," Yu Yili said painfully. "When you live alone, you have to be a little more particular..."
Fearing he would go on and on, Yi Heye quickly said, "Thank you, goodbye," and pushed him out.
He closed the door and sat down directly in front of the computer, intending to check some work emails he hadn't seen recently. Suddenly, an internal personnel change notice caught his attention.
Before he even clicked on it, he had a slight bad feeling. When the words were in front of him, he knew his premonition had come true again.
"Comrade Jian Yunxian, a former employee of this unit, has decided to resign from his position within the unit for personal reasons and will no longer serve as the executive officer of the Artificial Intelligence Administration Bureau. This is hereby announced."
As Yi Heye slowly read these lines of text, he suddenly felt that this home had truly become completely empty.
Author's Note:
Don't panic, it's really not cruel (Erkang gesture)
Just to clarify, don't be scared by the title; it's not what you think (I'm sure).
Chapter 84, number 084
Yi Heye stared at the announcement for a long time, until his eyes started to ache, before taking a deep breath and making a call to ask Zhou Wenkai.
“Oh right, they called us last night, saying there was an urgent matter to handle in Area A and they really couldn’t take care of things here,” Zhou Wenkai said. “The contract was signed until the last case was finished, so we have no reason to stop them from leaving…”
This must have been an extremely urgent matter, disappearing almost without any prior warning. Yi Heye rubbed his temples, thinking to himself, "It wasn't entirely without warning; at least most of the things were explained properly."
A strange sense of anxiety made his abdominal wound ache again. He gasped and opened the home care instructions Yu Yili had given him. He picked up the alcohol and medicine and lifted his shirt in front of the mirror.
He looked at the huge surgical scar on his abdomen, the stitches stinging, the area around it tingling with a faint red. Upon closer inspection, the skin around the wound had clearly healed.
Illness, pain, inflammation, healing...
These were all pieces of evidence that Yi Heye had always believed he was human, but after this case, his long-held standards of judgment seemed to have been impacted to some extent.
He recalled how people had always described him—simple, indifferent, lacking empathy, like a machine.
Am I really human? If there are mechanical bodies like Chen Sang's that retain human consciousness, why can't there be artificial consciousness that retains a human body?
So, is such an entity a human or an AI? What exactly are the differences and boundaries between humans and AI?
Countless questions swirled in his mind, and Yi Heye felt increasingly agitated. The pain in his wound intensified, his face turned pale, large drops of sweat trickled down his neck to his collarbone, and his breathing became rapid.
At this moment, with Jian Yunxian not in the room to take care of him, he could only grit his teeth and follow the detailed instructions Yu Yili had given him, cleaning and dressing his wounds bit by bit.
Finally, as the pain made his vision blur, he collapsed onto his bed in a daze.
He turned to the side, looked at the painkillers on the bedside table, thought for a moment, but still didn't reach for them.
At least when the pain strikes, he loses all interest in figuring out what he is.
This period of living alone was even more difficult than Yi Heye had imagined.
He wakes up alone every day, grits his teeth, and changes his dressings.
Finding a needle in a haystack usually involves searching for information about SHEEP online.
He would casually inquire about information from cybersecurity officials, and the more he learned, the more he felt things were worse than he had imagined.
"Currently, the investigation into SHEEP has made a breakthrough. In a previous operation, we tracked down SHEEP's IP address, and recently we have been targeting and disrupting it," a cybersecurity spokesperson told the media. "We are confident that we will bring SHEEP to justice within two months and make him pay for his heinous crimes."
This news caused a huge stir on the internet. SHEEP's opponents had already started celebrating, while the fervent and loyal fans on the forums were taking a stand against the whole world, firmly cheering for SHEEP, defending them, and praying for them.
In the past, Yi Heye would have thought these fans were so fanatical they were like they'd been brainwashed. But now, when he saw these messages, all that flashed through his mind was the image of Jian Yunxian almost getting addicted to drugs in order to ensure the mission went smoothly.
He recalled Jian Yunxian's painful moans that night, and his unusually rare helplessness at that time.
But he couldn't offer any explanation, and a deep sense of powerlessness kept him awake all night once again.
Finally, on the 20th day of living alone, he received a call from the security agency. By then, he had almost fully recovered—of course, if he hadn't been in such a bad mood during this period, he would have been fully recovered much earlier.
"Hello? Xiao Yi?" It was Zhou Wenkai who contacted him again. "How's your recovery going these days?"
Yi Heye didn't bother with pleasantries and coldly and bluntly asked, "What is it?"
Zhou Wenkai: "Some tasks are better arranged in person. Why don't you come to the bureau when you have some free time?"
—What is it that can't be explained over the phone and needs to be said in person?
Yi Heye muttered to himself, glanced at the time, and decided that since he had nothing better to do, he simply put on his coat and set off.
Having not ridden a motorcycle in a long time, Xiaoming burst into tears the moment he saw Yi Heye: "Yebao—I haven't seen you in so long, I thought you were dead—"
Yi Heye patted the belly of his car to comfort him, then stepped on the gas and headed straight for his workplace.
A little later, in Zhou Wenkai's office, Yi Heye sat down in the chair opposite the desk and casually picked up the potted plant on the desk.
"Enough!" Seeing that the spider plant's leaves had been turned into teddy bear curls by that guy, Zhou Wenkai angrily slapped his hand away.
Plant stylist Yi Heye raised his head and said blankly, "Speak."
Zhou Wenkai, who lived opposite him, rubbed his nose somewhat awkwardly, as if he had mentally prepared himself before speaking: "Xiao Yi, first of all, I want to state that the organization has absolute trust in you, and I hope you won't overthink things..."
Yi Heye couldn't stand his roundabout way of speaking. He was already in a bad mood, and now he was even more irritated: "You can just get to the point. I can't listen to anything else."
Zhou Wenkai coughed twice and said, "When you first went to the live stream, you and Jian Yunxian should have both seen SHEEP, right?"
Upon hearing this name, Yi Heye couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart.
But he maintained his composure, remained silent, and simply watched him quietly.
Zhou Wenkai: "The reason I asked you to come here in person is because I don't want to make a big deal out of this. You know, sometimes it's not safe to communicate by phone."
Zhou Wenkai's words implied a very clear meaning: Yi Heye knew that his phone was being tapped.
At this moment, Yi Heye was extremely grateful that during the time he spent with Jian Yunxian, his acting skills and reaction speed had improved exponentially.
He stared at Zhou Wenkai without saying a word for a long time before finally suppressing the coldness in his eyes: "You should know that I've been eyeing SHEEP for a long time."
Upon hearing this and seeing Zhou Wenkai's expression, Yi Heye knew he was on the right track.
“I admit I lied to you, and I told Jian Yunxian not to tell you.” Yi Heye plucked the curled spider plant leaf, looked up, and stared at him with his crimson eyes. “I think I’ve told you more than once that I don’t like others touching my prey.”
Zhou Wenkai swallowed somewhat awkwardly.
“Xiao Yi, I know you’re ambitious in your career, but…” Zhou Wenkai hesitated for a moment, “but this is official business, not a personal grudge between you two. You can’t act recklessly…”
Yi Heye, seeing his tone soften, became even more imposing—
“As long as you’re willing to let me know and confirm that I don’t need to capture SHEEP, I will withdraw immediately and will not interfere with your business,” Yi Heye said coldly. “But if this mission requires me, please stop interfering with my actions and choices. I have already tried to turn a blind eye to your unauthorized actions against my prey, so please don’t challenge my bottom line again and again.”
This unreasonable, preemptive strike was clearly very effective on Zhou Wenkai. In his eyes, Yi Heye was still that impulsive and unreasonable little brat, and this was just another one of his countless unremarkable tantrums.
There was nothing we could do; his abilities were truly irreplaceable, so we could only coax and deceive him into going along with it.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Yi Heye's patience ran out once again. "Next time, there's no need to make me come all this way for something like this. There's nothing I can't say directly on the phone."
Seeing Yi Heye turn to leave, Zhou Wenkai quickly reached out to stop him: "Don't rush, don't rush, it's not just about this!"